Cousin Fun- Day 3

We DID wear the kids out.... they all slept in until about 9:00!

We had another FUN and BUSY day planned.

First, we went to Julia Davis Park and had a picnic lunch.

After lunch, the kids played with the caterpillars that were everywhere.


They were kind of cute. We wondered what kind of butterfly they turned into. The kids wanted to take them home and find out, but surprisingly none came home with us.

We played a little catch and then walked over the foot bridge to the Boise State campus.

We tried to get into the stadium to see if we could see the Bronco football players practice and the famous "Smurf Turf". We heard the band practicing, but the stadium was locked up. We walked around to the other side and DID find a small place in the fence where we could see them.

"I can see the Broncos!"

Ok, so you can't see the "Smurf Turf" from this angle either, but we did see the players.

After taking a bathroom break at the Student Union Building, we walked back to the park to play and have snacks. Jason and Jared took the opportunity to play a few minutes of horseshoes, while the kids played on the equipment.

When we got home, the kids went swimming in the neighborhood pool again, while Teresa and I stayed back and made dinner. After dinner, the kids settled down with a movie, while the adults played "Yahtzee". Teresa was the big winner that night.

The next morning, we got up and got ready for church, while Jared, Teresa and family got ready to go home.

We had so much fun having our cousins here. We LOVE cousins visits!!!

Annual Family Picnic

We love where we live!

Heritage Commons has several neighborhood events.

This year's Annual Family Picnic was a luau..... HUGE roasted pig and all.

Treyson said he kinda lost his appetite after seeing it... must have really grossed him out, because not many things cause him to loose his appetite. :)

Rylee and Taylee helped with the face painting station.

Treyson requested a shark.

Jason won the BEST HAWAIIAN SHIRT contest and received a coconut cup holder and lei.

There was even a watermelon eating contest and jump houses too.

Fun night!

Cantus Youth Choir

Rylee enjoys music. She is often listening to the radio, rocking out with a favorite CD or singing at the top of her lungs to her mp3 player. She's been a part of our ward choir and a part of her school choir.

At the end of last school year, Rylee decided she wanted to be a part of a NEW community youth choir.... Cantus (pronounced con-too-s). She signed up for an audition immediately and then later told me about it. I had no idea what it was or what it would require.... and neither did she at the time.

Being a part of Cantus is not FREE. There is a monthly tuition, concert wear, computer grading software plus the cost of the actual tour.....BIG money.

The choir gets to participate in a national choir competition in Anaheim, California in Disneyland!

When we found out about all the money details, I started having second thoughts. We were assured that there would be many fundraising opportunities, payments in increments and possible financial aid. I asked Rylee if she was willing to work hard for this. She was a little hesitant at first, but decided she would go for it.

Rylee HAS worked hard. She has done a ton of babysitting, some house-sitting and has spent a few days at Jason's car wash fundraising. She has sold community discount cards, Applebee's pancake breakfast tickets and has collected cash donations too. We LOVE cash donations....100% profit!

How could anyone resist a sweet face like this?!

Rylee is still working hard to meet her goal, but has had fundraising success and has been blessed by generous people that support and love her.

ThANk YoU!!!

If you would like to know more about Cantus go here. If you would like to be one of those generous people go here. :)

Boise High School

After my Borah High 20 year reunion experience, I wondered what the Boise High reunion would be like. I suspected that I would know a lot more people and have more fun, but in the end it was REALLY expensive and I couldn't afford going.

That didn't stop me from dragging my kids to the FREE school tour though.

Although the front of the school still looked the same (with the exception of the front steps being under construction) there were many things that had changed. The math building had been totally remodelled and now housed the new cafeteria and library, as well as many classrooms and the majority of the lockers.

The main building halls were carpeted *weird* and most of the lockers had been taken out. As we walked around I showed the kids where the cafeteria USED TO be and where I took Biology...I think. They were impressed by the big, old auditorium and real feather head dresses (Boise Braves) in the display case.

I found my sophomore locker (area), down in the basement. Taylee thought it was SO COOL to have a basement in a school.

I had forgotten all about the narrow stairways, nooks and crannies of the school. The kids felt like they were going through secret passageways in a castle. They also complained how tired they were getting by going up and down so many stairs.

"Mom, did you have to do this EVERY DAY at school?!"

"Yep, uphill both ways!" :)

At the end of our self-guided tour, we found someone giving out Boise High t-shirts from the school store (excess from over the years?). We considered getting the "BEAT BORAH" t-shirts, but it didn't feel right since I had actually graduated from Borah. :)

Boise High is the oldest high school in the city.... a historical site.

I saw a few familiar faces and said HI, but really wished I could have participated in the all weekend long activities too. Oh well, maybe at the 30.

Levi Joseph Waite

Introducing the newest addition to the family......

Levi Joseph Waite

Born July 25, 2010

at 9:31pm

He was 9lbs 5oz

22 inches long

and came 10 days before his due date.

He started to make his appearance on Treyson's birthday.

Candice's water broke on the 24th around 3:00pm.

But in the end decided he wanted his own day.

We went to visit him and his family when they were home from the hospital.

He is so snuggly and cute!


Welcome to the family Levi.
Glad you're here safe and sound.

Treyson Turns 9!

I can't believe it..... My Treyson boy is 9!

We planned a full day of celebrating, including Jason taking a day off work.

After breakfast, Treyson opened gifts.

This year we were going for useful and needed over useless and begged for.

Treyson had been drooling over the new Buzz Lightyear, but there was NO WAY I was paying 100 bucks for an action figure type toy.

Treyson FINALLY received a replacement battery charger for his Nintendo D.S. Now he won't have to beg, borrow and steal his sister's anymore. Whew!
Taylee bought him a Dollar Store gift with her own money and made him an adorable card.

Treyson was in HEAVEN with all of his edible gifts. I told him he didn't have to share (if he didn't want to, but probably would cuz he's just that way) and that he could eat as much or as little as he wanted at a time (within reason...yeah right). A reading light and matching fan were much needed gifts. He also received the "Whimpy Kid" book series that were immediately eye-balled and asked to be borrowed by his sisters.

Treyson requested an "Under the Sea" cake this year. He had a specific idea about a shark eating some fish, but in the end had to just trust that I would come up with something cool.

The guy floating in a peach ring tube, was one of my favorite parts of the cake. I had originally planned to use Teddy Grahams, but forgot to buy them while at the store. I came up with Lego guy last minute. And although he's fully clothed, I think he's having a fun time splashing in the ocean.... until the sharks eat him.

Next part of the celebration day was going to the Boise Music Festival. Jason had seen the festival advertised weeks earlier and thought it would be fun to go see some big headliners; Macy Gray, the Backstreet Boys and Brett Michaels!

We went to the mall, to catch a shuttle bus. There was NO WAY Jason wanted to fight the crowds and try to find a parking by the park.

It was a HOT day. Our 30 minute wait in line seemed longer.

After 2 other buses had come and gone, it was finally our turn to board the shuttle. The buses were meant to hold only 24 passengers, we stuffed about 40 onto our bus which made for a hot, sticky ride. :)

Our first order of business when arriving, was to find a good place for our chairs in front of the MAIN stage. We found a place, close to the sound booth, near the center.

Next we set out to see what else was going on.

We looked at the vendors, bounced in the jump houses and played in the fountain. The mist from the fountain felt sooo good.

Treyson started out by putting his hands in the water. Next, he got his hat wet and dumped it over his head to cool off. Then finally couldn't resist any longer and ended up putting his whole head in the water. He was soaked from head to toe... and probably the coolest of us all.

After we felt we'd seen all we could see, we went back to our chairs.

We ate our packed lunch, as we listened to several up and coming bands/artists.

We weren't as well prepared as we thought. We had brought food, water and sunscreen, but had no shade to keep the 100 degree sun from baking us. The only source of water, was a little drinking fountain that took at least a 30 minute wait in line to get a drink and re-fill water bottles.

When Taylee started not feeling well (heat stroke?), Jason and I started getting headaches and Abree acted bored out of her gourd, we decided to call it a day. Being miles away from our van and knowing we'd have to shuttle back with thousands of people didn't sound very fun or fast.

We were bummed that we didn't get to see the headline singers. We DID see a tinted limo drive up, just as we were leaving and speculated that it could be the Backstreet Boys. When we got back to our van, we welcomed the air-conditioning and then went to McDonald's for ice cream cones and got a Red Box movie.